The past decade has seen significant growth in trafficking in people worldwide, a blatant abuse of human rights with devastating consequences for the millions of individuals, families and communities affected by this crime. Victims of trafficking through the north of Thailand comprise both women and children from countries in the Mekong Sub-Region (Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, southern Yunnan province of China and Vietnam). Although women and children of Thai nationality are still being trafficked nowadays the majority of the victims are from the ethnic hill tribes who reside in Thailand without citizenship and from the aforementioned countries in the region.

Many come to Thailand seeking jobs and new opportunities but are quickly trapped in a system of abuse with nowhere to turn given that they have no rights of citizenship.

Without citizenship or land tenure the majority of the hill tribe people residing in Northern Thailand live in poverty without access to education, health care or legitimate work opportunities. At the same time, their way of life, traditions and values are being rapidly eroded due to foreign influence, national development strategies and the influx of consumer goods. In hill-tribe villages across the region drug addiction and sales as well as the prevalence of HIV/AIDS are insidious problems breaking down families and communities.

Brothel owners have networks of agents combing the villages seeking out troubled families caught in the cycle of debt with few options. These traffickers can appear to be the answer to the family's financial struggles and fears with their simple solution of exchanging their young daughters for money. This system is a complicated web involving relatives, village elders, city authorities, police, government officials and business people who all benefit from the girl's labour.